Your inner critic
There’s that annoying, critical voice in your head again, nattering away before a big solo…it’s always picking up on the little imperfections in your playing, chastising you and jeering at you around every corner, just waiting for you to slip up and make a mistake.
“Ooh gee, that note was REALLY flat, and you were SO late in on that last entry! I wonder how well you’re going to do on the next one... probably going to stuff that up too. Maybe you should have practiced more for this concert…you’re so lazy...you’re useless...why do you bother when you just screw it up anyway…maybe you should just give up!”
Sound familiar? It certainly does for me! 😔
We all have our own inner critic that rears its ugly head from time to time, particularly when we’re under pressure and really care about what we love doing. As musicians, we have to rely on our critical ear to correct mistakes and improve our playing in the practice room. But the problem is that too much of this kind of critical thinking becomes destructive and depletes self-esteem and confidence, especially when performing up on stage.
So how can you get your critical voice to take a break during performances? Well one solution is actually quite simple, and a bit of fun too!
This is a story from my brother Andrew, who is an amazing horn player and someone I constantly look up to for inspiration and advice.
He has given his inner voice a name - “Bob”. When Bob starts chatting away to Andrew before or during a concert, he tells him to sit on his shoulder and to be quiet. “Thanks for your input Bob, you’re going to sit here (on my shoulder) and I’ll talk to you later on, I’ve got work to do.”
Here’s Andrew on Horn Hangouts explaining it a bit more: https://youtu.be/g7DGKiRzZc4?t=1845
This part goes for about 1:20 min, but the whole interview is fantastic…and hilarious! (I even added a cheeky question in there somewhere, couldn't help myself! 😆)
Now I know it sounds pretty simple, but I’ve found this technique to work incredibly well for a lot of performers because it:
a) personalises the critical voice (i.e. giving it a name/persona), and
b) externalises it from your actual self (i.e. putting it on your shoulder).
This allows you to view your inner critic as a separate being that is not a part of your actual personality. Therefore it becomes someone you can either choose to listen to, or to completely ignore or refute.
Think if you had an actual person sitting next to you saying the same negative comments as your critical voice. I can imagine you would probably ignore them, or tell them to shut up or go away pretty quick! (maybe using some slightly stronger language too) ;)
Using this technique gives you the chance to bring back some control over your performance that you’ve been wanting, and allow you to play with new found freedom from your internal foe. Try it out and let me know what name you come up with for your critical voice! This could be interesting...